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sensimediagroup @sensimagazine @sensimag
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FEATURES
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Healthy, Wealthy, Wise
A new CBD company empowers women to take control of their bodies, minds, and careers.
Reclaiming Recovery Psychedelic therapy could help ease the constant wounds of racial trauma
DEPARTMENTS
13 EDITOR’S NOTE 20 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 14 THE BUZZ TRAVEL Planning your News, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop TACO TUESDAY TO GO Dine out fresh with City Taco’s new takeout and delivery options. CBD SURVIVAL MyJane’s new humor box ELEVATE TELEVISION Ronin Content Services and Social Club TV offer cannabis content. NOW STREAMING The newest shows and seasons on the docket GOODBYE IFF The cost of canceling the International Film Festival CHEERS ON WHEELS
Mixology kits delivered right to your door
next vacation is good for you—whether you take it or not. 2021 VIBES What the new year holds
44 THE SCENE Hot happenings and hip
hangouts around town GET BLUNT LA start-up celebrates cannabis-based skin care. CALENDAR Virtual and safe live events to keep you busy this January
ON THE COVER
Amanda Goetz, entrepreneur and founder of House of Wise PHOTO COURTESY OF HOUSE OF WISE
54 THE END Chef Andrew Gruel pushes back on new outdoor dining ban.
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EXECUTIVE
Ron Kolb Founder, CEO ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder, Editor in Chief stephanie@sensimag.com Mike Mansbridge President mike@sensimag.com Fran Heitkamp Chief Operating Officer fran@sensimag.com Lou Ferris VP of Global Revenue lou@sensimag.com Chris Foltz Director of Global Reach chris@sensimag.com Jade Kolb Director of Project Management jade.kolb@sensimag.com Kristan Toth Head of People kristan.toth@sensimag.com EDITORIAL
Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor doug.schnitzspahn@sensimag.com Dawn Garcia Managing Editor dawn.garcia@sensimag.com Leland Rucker Senior Editor leland.rucker@sensimag.com Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large robyn.lawrence@sensimag.com Helen Olsson Copy Chief Eli Dupin, Mona Van Joseph Contributing Writers DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak, Josh Clark Designers Neil Willis Production Director neil.willis@sensimag.com PUBLISHING
MEDIA PARTNERS
Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Rob Ball Market Director rob.ball@sensimag.com Angelique Kiss Market Director angelique.kiss@sensimag.com
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Magazine published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC.
© 2021 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.
OMG, who else is
thrilled that 2020 is no more?
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First of all, I want to say thank you. Sensi took a long pause last year with the uncertainty of the pandemic, but we are back and stronger than ever. As for what this new year brings? Hell, the fact that we’re here may as well mean unicorns and rainbows are sprouting in every direction. While the exhilaration of a new year with a new POTUS in office is no doubt worth celebrating, we can’t forget the many lives lost as we continue to battle a pandemic that is—plainly put—out of hand. With millions of Americans still not complying with basic public health recommendations, we are likely facing a national shutdown for 100 days. So, what will that mean? You mean other than having a ton of new articles to read and more reasons to continue tapping into your inner interior designer? It means it’s time to take this virus seriously, mask up, and stop gathering in large crowds. It means small business has been hit incredibly hard and job insecurity is a very real hardship. It also means the entertainment industry that we rely on for economic growth in California is facing catastrophic economic loss due to continued massive production shutdowns. It means it’s high time for us to band together, buy local, order takeout from nearby restaurants once a week (to keep us all in this), and most importantly it means celebrating the fact that cannabis is essential. Can I get an amen! This issue is about redos and life makeovers. There has never been a better reason to brush off the ick of 2020 and usher in an era of community. So, let’s ditch the ego and sense of entitlement and take advantage of the time we have to be better humans. Happy 2021!
This issue is about redos and life makeovers. There has never been a better reason to brush off the ick of 2020 and usher in an era of community.
Live bold AF,
Dawn Garcia @dawngarcia
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Taco Tuesday, Every Tuesday We might be under a limited stayat-home order, but supporting local business is how we all win. San Diego’s City Tacos, known for its heart, kickass menu, and amazing service, is offering its innovative, unique, and damn delicious tacos to go. City Tacos 14
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prides itself on preparing fresh Mexican cuisine con sazĂłn (with seasoning), serving up vegetarian, paleo, fish, and traditional meat tacos. The flavors are mouthwatering and the vibe here is positivity-meets-cultural-celebration. Serving the communi-
ties of La Mesa, Imperial Beach, Sorrento Valley, Encinitas, and Pacific Beach, this SoCal staple is the perfect blend of Mexican and Southern California beachside culture. Dine in, takeout, and delivery available. citytacossd.com / @citytacosd
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CITY TACOS
A family-owned taco shop in San Diego offers its fare to go.
CONTRIBUTORS
Eli Dupin, Dawn Garcia
BY THE NUMBERS
93 PERCENT It’s a Jungle in Here PHOTOS (FROM LEFT) COURTESY OF MYJANE / BY VASANTY, ADOBE STOCK
This legit CBD survival kit will help women as they shelter at home.
Cannabis is our godsend. So, when MyJane, a company that curates luxury CBD boxes, released its timely SheSurvival Hedger Humor Special Edition box partnering with cartoonist Adrienne Hedger, every mom, woman, and human rejoiced (yes, men, we know it’s been hard being locked indoors with us). The kit is all we’ve been missing and is a nod to the stressed-out boss babes who’ve been sharing their space every day, every hour with their partners, kids having meltdowns (teens are the masters), and no one capable of deciding on what’s worthy for dinner. The kit contains hemp and CBD products like lip balms and bath bombs as well as a Keep Out door hanger and a silky sleep mask. A SheSurvival Kit is our new bestie. $59 / myjane.com
TV FOR YOU
The largest global cannabis network is making waves.
Increase over 2019 in the number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression from January through September 2020 SOURCE: mhanational.org
$10.6 BILLION Projected size of the global gummy vitamins market by 2025 SOURCE: marketsandmarkets.com
95 MILLION Number of photos uploaded on Instagram daily
Ronin Content Services and Social Club TV, founded by cannabis and media industry veterans Shelley Madison and Jason Rhude, encourage viewers to stoke up and enjoy cannabis-related content on their cannabis network. They just joined California-based Chapter 2 Agency and to mainstream their strategic advisory team, the two companies joined forces with Berner, a Bay Area rapper and founder of cannabis lifestyle brand Cookies, and Jared Mirsky, founder of Wick & Mortar. Social Club is the fastest growing cannabis-focused Connected TV network across the globe, targeting more than 100 million mainstream consumers. Its cannabis content creators include Jim Belushi, DNA Genetics, and B-Real of Cypress Hill. Available on AppleTV, Roku, Android TV iOS, Google Play, Plex, TVPass, Pluto TV, and Phillips. thesocialclub.tv / @ronincontent @socialclub_tv
SOURCE: internetlivestats.com
50
MILLISECONDS The length of time websites have to make a good impression and keep online retention SOURCE: tandfonline.com
THE BAD NEWS IS TIME FLIES. THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU’RE THE PILOT.” —Michael Altshuler, motivational speaker
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THE BUZZ
VOX POPULI
Question: What can we do to help independently owned restaurants survive shutdowns?
FRANCESCO ZIMONE
BRIAN VITO MORALES GREG DANIELS
Restaurateur, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele Los Angeles
Bartender Whittier
Chef and Restaurateur Harley Laguna Beach
___________________
___________________
Don’t stop supporting small business: food, beverage, retail. And buy gift cards!
Support great farms like The Ecology Center, Tanaka Farms, and Smith Farms Organics Fountain Valley.
___________________
Shop local, especially for groceries and produce.
PHOTOS (FROM TOP) BY TAYA GRAY, THE DESERT SUN / BY TALAJ, ADOBE STOCK
TIME FOR NEW SHOWS Networks are preparing to release new programming this month. While the entertainment industry grapples with halted productions, there are some new shows and seasons on the docket. WHAT’S NEW 1. Selena, Netflix / Now Streaming 2. WandaVision, Disney+ / Now Streaming 3. Call Me Kat, FOX / Jan. 3, 8 p.m. 4. Name That Tune, FOX / Jan. 6, 9 p.m. 5. Coyote, CBS All Access / Jan. 7 6. The Hustler Game Show, ABC / Jan. 7, 10 p.m. 7. Mr. Mayor, NBC / Jan. 7, 8 p.m. 8. Call Your Mother, ABC / Jan. 13, 9:30 p.m. 9. Losing Alice, Apple TV / Jan. 24 10. The Dig, Netflix / Jan. 29
WHAT’S RETURNING 1. Sabrina (Season 4), Netflix / Now Streaming 2. Letter Kenny (Season 9), Hulu / Now Streaming 3. Monarca (Season 2), Netflix / Jan. 1 4. The Watch (Season 2), BBC / Jan. 3, 8 p.m. 5. The Rookie (Season 3), ABC / Jan 3, 10 p.m. 6. Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, ABC / Jan. 7, 8 p.m. 7. Dickinson (Season 2), Apple TV / Jan. 8 8. Cobra Kai (Season 3), Netflix / Jan. 8 9. A Discovery of Witches (Season 2), Sundance / Jan. 9 10. All American (Season 3), CW / Jan. 18, 8 p.m.
Palm Springs’ Big Decision
The cancellation of the International Film Festival could be costly. Palm Springs is an incredibly design-centric region with a history that is decadent and fascinating. One of its greatest tourism draws comes by way of the affluent Palm Springs International Film Festival in January, and it has been canceled for 2021. This could mean devastating financial loss to the city, local hotels, and restaurants that rely heavily on this influx of guests attending the festival. “The outlook for at least the first round of 2021 doesn't look good at all,” says Aftab Dada, chair of the Palm Springs Resorts hospitality group. “The first half of January is historically a slow time of the year. We were blessed and fortunate to have the festival that created a lot of activity and brought a lot of people to town. It's an event that cannot be substituted.” With the highly anticipated Academy Awards slated for February, there is growing concern this could be the first year the awards show is also canceled. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has extended qualifying film submissions through March, making it clear it will not resume on its regularly scheduled date. For locals, Palm Springs is just a short drive away. If you’re able, plan on taking a staycation at a small boutique hotel in the area, order takeout or delivery from a local establishment, and shop retail to help boost the economy in the region. J A N UA RY 2021
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THE BUZZ
BILITIES BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF
1 NEW YEAR, SAME YOU, FRESH PURPOSE: The arrival of 2021 is a chance to make a change. The year in our rearview torpedoed everything we thought of as “normal,” and there’s no going back. Not that we want to—the old normal and even the new normal isn’t good enough. We all were grinding away, but we weren’t making progress. And we’re all about progression.
EN·THE·O·GEN (n) A psychoactive substance, typically derived from plants, that is ingested to produce a non-ordinary state of consciousness for religious purposes or spiritual enlightenment. (See “The Road to Reclaiming Recovery,” p. 36.)
3 BORN AGAIN: According to Pinterest Predicts, an annual notyet-trending report, in 2021, we can expect “routines to be remixed. Expect regular to be reinvented.” Pinterest says 2021 will be a rebirth, not a reset. “After the plague came the Renaissance.”
4 PLANT POWER TO THE PEOPLE: We’re at the beginning of a new Renaissance—a modern period of cultural, artistic, political, and scientific rebirth. At Sensi, we spent the past year undergoing a transformation to better serve our founding purpose: to break cannabis out of the chains of stigma, to be the bridge that connects cannabis with the mainstream, to tell the stories of the plant and of the people impacted by the plant, to stir people’s curiosity and their desire for freedom to use the plant—and inspire demands for the freedom of people suffering in prison because of cannabis prohibition.
5 MUSIC MAKERS: This modern Renaissance will provide relief … releaf … ReLeaf. As in, Sensi Presents ReLeaf, the Compilation Album Volume 1, a Benefit for Last Prisoner Project is the next bold step in Sensi’s journey, part of our rebirth. It’s the first release from Sensi’s new record label, and we are so excited and honored to introduce it to you. In the coming months, we’ll have ongoing coverage of the album and the artists who lent their talents to the project, and we’ll also shine a light on the important accomplishments of the Last Prisoner Project—both in the magazine and on the newly rebirthed sensimag.com.
Cheers on Wheels
Missing the camaraderie of bars and mixologists? Us too. Remember when we used to sneak off on a weeknight to succumb to our favorite mixologist’s libation of choice? We long for the days and nights when we could sit at a bar like Sam on Cheers and drink a damn good cocktail while simultaneously bidding our woes goodbye. That’s where an inventive local LA bar-mecist comes in handy. Mixologists, including SoCal favorite Josh Curtis, are putting together mixology kits for you to make at home, curated wine and bubbles, and even homemade snacks. RxCocktails has found a way to bring the complex flavors of the art of cocktails to you in an affordable and approachable way. The kits, which serve from three to seven drinks, include vodkas, mezcals, bourbon, tequila, and rum. Whatever your preference, they’ve got you covered. One thing you can be assured of is that the flavor profiles will be on point. The Winter Kits: The Cure, Extremely Happy, Clinically Proven, Takes the Edge Off, Calms You Down, Pink Elephants, and classics like margaritas, lemon drops, and old-fashioneds. (Must be 21 and older to order.) $29–$59 per kit / rxcocktailsla.com
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PHOTO COURTESY OF RXCOCKTAILS
WORD OF THE MONTH
2 MOVING ONWARD: It’s the only direction into the auspicious year of 2021, known as the Year 5 in numerology. According to Astrofame’s summary of Year 5, “We often feel freer and more able to make changes that we have been thinking about for a long time. We will pursue new initiatives and could even feel like we are growing wings. Curiosity and desire for freedom will be present, as will the desire to go beyond our limits.”
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Happy Plan Americans finally have reason to (cautiously) dream about travel again. TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON
If you’re wondering how has stirred up some wanderlust in you, you are to be a good traveler in not alone. And stoking the time of COVID-19, look to the words of an- the fire of your passion for travel is so much cient Chinese philosmore than just a guilty opher and author Lao pleasure—it’s an exerTzu. Among his many cise shown by science to notable wise quotes is boost your mental health this one: “A good travand emotional well-beeler has no fi xed plans ing. To which we sing, and is not intent on “Dream on, dream until arriving.” Fact is, we don’t know your dreams come true.” There’s some good when we’ll be able to news for globe-trotters: travel freely again, but Although most people there’s reason to be have back-burnered their optimistic we could be leisure travel for now, catching flights (not trip planning doesn’t feelings) sometime need to be canceled too. in 2021. In November, “According to researchwe learned that one ers, looking ahead to of the candidates for your next adventure a COVID-19 vaccine, could benefit your menmade by Pfizer and BioNTech, was more than tal health,” writes Erica Jackson Curran in Na90 percent effective in tional Geographic. “Even preventing volunteers from contracting the vi- if you’re not sure when rus—news that sparked that adventure will be.” To back that idea up, a dim light at what we Curran points to a 2007 hope is the end of the study published in the very long tunnel we’ve Journal of Experimental been wandering in our Psychology. Researchers masks since March. at University of ColoraIf all the wandering
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PHOTO BY ROBERTO NICKSON, UNSPLASH
THE LIFE
do Boulder found that people were happier during the planning stages of a vacation than they were after taking one. Put another way, we’re likely to enjoy the anticipation of a trip more than we enjoy reminiscing about it afterward, a theory that was seconded and thirded by later studies. According to findings by researcher Jeroen Nawijn published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, travelers planning a vacation reported being happier than people who aren’t dreaming of their next escape. That 2010 study found that all vacationers experienced a significant boost in happiness during the planning stages of a trip. “For most,” the researchers concluded, “the enjoyment starts weeks, even months before the holiday actually begins.” We all could benefit from some more enjoyment right now. The global pandemic has taken a toll on American’s well-being, as multiple global surveys and reports have shown. One study revealed that Americans are experiencing the lowest levels of happiness in 50 years. And according to results of the latest Ipsos survey on global happiness released in October, the J A N UA RY 2021
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PHOTO BY ATLAS GREEN, UNSPLASH
THE LIFE
prevalence of happiness is down more than nine points in the United States compared with last year. Of those surveyed, 25 percent reported being “not very happy” and six percent saying they are “not happy at all.” If you can relate, now’s the time to start planning your next escape. A new poll conducted by the Institute for Applied Positive Research backed up earlier studies, fi nding that simply planning a trip can help boost happiness and alleviate stress. According to the institute’s founder
Michelle Gielan, “Booking a trip—even just getting it on the calendar—might be the very thing we need to restore our emotional immune system after months of mounting uncertainty and stress.” If your bank account is laughing at the thought of booking a vacation, first applaud its sense of humor. Then reassure it that dreaming of getting away at any point in the future is not an exercise in futility: planning for life returning to normal can be a comforting activity amid all the uncertainty. Just because
Just because you couldn’t swing a trip in the immediate future doesn’t negate the positive impact that anticipating a vacation can have on your mental health.
you couldn’t swing a trip in the immediate future doesn’t negate the positive impact that anticipating a vacation can have on your mental health. This is a long way of suggesting you go start a Pinterest board or two to populate with photos of whatever exotic paradise catches your wandering, lusting eye. Because one day—perhaps one day soon-ish— you can be on your way to finding it. There’s no time like the present to plan your future escape. It’s all but guaranteed to bring joy to your world this holiday season. J A N UA RY 2021
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THE LIFE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mona Van Joseph is a professionally licensed intuitive reader in Las Vegas since 2002. Author, radio host, and columnist, she has created the Dice Wisdom app and is available for phone and in-person sessions. mona.vegas
PHOTO BY JOZEFMICIC, ADOBE STOCK
2021 Vibe
the government), which will make it attractive to wait until that month. The numerals in 2021 This is the year that you get what you want. add up to a 5 in numeroloTEXT MONA VAN JOSEPH gy, resonating to fast-moving communication, the The year 2020 was a vised unless it’s presented planet Mercury, and the Foundation Year designed (in writing or contract) to Norse God, Loki. It is the to show us what’s most benefit you authentically. Year of Media—the truth important. It was spiritual Patience with yourself and and the trickster. Both awareness to our growth, others right now will do the truth and the manipand in many ways, we you a world of good when ulation of the truth in any were forced to recognize the energy shifts. issue will be present. Make and honor our priorities. Make your plan for your own conclusions Isolation, loss, and money forward movement when and decisions on what you worries were (and still are this energy shift begins in know to be your truth. for many) center stage. May. This will allow you Make the first quarter There will (still) be to attend a baseball game personally productive. Reholding back energy on or concert in July, the member, this year is about gatherings until the end of power month this year. connections and commuMarch and awareness of It will enable you to get nication. Do your best to money issues until April. that promotion or launch connect with people who People will be deciding a new beginning. The best you’ll want in your wheelwhat they want to do with month to retire would also house moving forward. their careers or finding be in July. There will be Connect with everyone ways to fill up their days in offers made to those close you’ve met on LinkedIn, the first quarter. Action in to retirement age in July especially if one of your the first quarter is not ad- (either by an employer or goals has to do with a new
HOROSCOPE
career opportunity. Remember that nature abhors a vacuum, and the practical cleaning out of things in your living space will allow new things to present themselves. Make it a goal to have one drawer, one shelf, and one cabinet in each room empty so you are setting up the energy to receive. Hang all of the hanger hooks in your closet backward to see what you’re actually wearing (and decide in six months what you’ll keep or donate). Spending time with ourselves in 2020 was to show us what truly makes us happy and purposeful. This will be an action year as soon as you decide what that looks like for you. It’s truly that simple. Speak aloud what you want, and do not speak aloud what you don’t want.
MULLIGAN For the coming year, Mona is offering a 9 Day Energy Reset. To learn more or participate, visit 9dayer.com.
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMANDA GOETZ 28
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HEALTHY,
WEALTHY,
WISE
A new CBD company empowers women to take control of their bodies, their minds, and their careers. TEXT DAWN GARCIA
W
hen we think about a fresh start, our new way of homebound life suggests we may be in the process of redesigning not just our spaces, but our actual lives. That’s when we turn to innovation, bursts of creativity, and ingenuity while starting to think about new ways to approach how we live.
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In the 1940s, an ingenious duo formed what the world would come to know as Tupperware. Inventor Earl Tupper and saleswoman Brownie Wise launched the highly acclaimed household brand and the company’s name would soon become the most recognized kitchen brand no mom could do without. Wise’s business savvy and marketing strategy would be what would set the brand apart from everyone else, and Tupper’s lid, patented in 1945, changed the game for food storage throughout America. The lid’s mechanism made it a difficult sell in the beginning, but Wise saw an extraordinary opportunity and seized it. The Tupperware party, which eventually became a cultural icon, was Wise’s brainchild. In 1951, Tupper hired Wise as his vice president of marketing, an unprecedented position for a woman, says Bob Kealing, author of Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire. Those Tupperware parties are what inspired the creation of the cannabis and CBD company House of Wise (named after Brownie Wise). The company’s founder, Amanda Goetz, was at the pinnacle of her career as vice president of marketing for The Knot Worldwide. The wedding resource company was acquired in 2017, and the workplace upheaval combined with a flurry of other factors—the end of an 11-year marriage and a sudden leap into single motherhood—led to a career deep dive and a whole lot of self-discovery. Wise’s story is what inspired Goetz to create House of Wise, J A N UA RY 2021
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which is modeled on the Tupperware business playbook of empowering women to move their own financial needle. I had the opportunity to talk with Goetz in an honest interview about how she took control of her life and her career, all while raising three children. What prompted you to create such an ambitious company? Three years ago, I had three kids under the age of five, was at the height of my career, The Knot was being acquired, and I was in the middle of a divorce. I had never touched cannabis but turned to it, secretly, out of desperation—and it worked. Removing stigmas and empowering women to take control of their sleep, sex, stress, and wealth became my mission. As I became more educated on the differences of CBD and THC, I started talking to my friends about it and how much it was helping me deal with everything on my plate. The responses were mixed. Here’s what I discovered: The stigma’s still present. The market was confusing. The 1:1 convo was necessary. Tell us about the Tupperware inspo. House of Wise was named in honor of Brownie Wise. She created a feminist movement and empire for Earl Tupper. When she asked for more money and an executive seat, he fired her and sold the company a few months later for $16 million in 1958, and Wise got zero. I came across her story while on a work trip to India in March (right as COVID was starting), and I was spending a lot of time contemplating my place and mission in the world. I was reading about women who helped other women, and Wise’s story stuck with
“I HAD NEVER TOUCHED CANNABIS BUT TURNED TO IT, SECRETLY, OUT OF DESPERATION— AND IT WORKED. REMOVING STIGMAS AND EMPOWERING WOMEN ... BECAME MY MISSION.” —Amanda Goetz Founder, House of Wise
me. I knew within a minute that I would call it House of Wise. What has been your greatest challenge so far? COVID. The guilt parents face right now is tremendous and exhausting. We are either neglecting the kids’ knocks on the door to crank out work or slacking on a project to be present for our kids. I try being present and focused on the thing I’m doing and then shut out the other things until a task is complete. WISE UP! How have CBD and cannabis improved your overall sense of well-being, and life as a mom? I stopped drinking alcohol at night, which gives me more energy the next day to do the things that help me, like working out. My brain goes a mile a minute and cannabis helps to slow it down. I need the help. CBD helps me to take the edge off at a time where everything is keeping us on edge.
Since House of Wise launched on December 1, 2020, more than 150 #WiseWomen have joined—10 of whom are in California. Goetz’s yearone goal is to become 500 #WiseWomen strong.
What lyrics inspire you? “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” by Kelly Clarkson. I’m super prolific. But seriously, I’ve been through so much in my life from infertility to miscarriage to divorce to single motherhood to a failed start-up. I’ve learned to grow through every challenge and come out more self-aware and appreciative of all I can handle. What do you believe makes House of Wise so impactful to women? I think it’s the first time we are acknowledging that we need help, collectively. Most of the stuff we read and see doesn’t shed light on the shit we all went through to get to the place where we feel J A N UA RY 2021
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LEARN MORE
House of Wise houseofwise.co @House__of__Wise
comfortable asking for help. Social media is still a highlight reel of influencers, and House of Wise is built on the fact that we all need help in our lives—and it’s available. What I mean by that is help by virtue of offering a supportive group made up of women collectively working towards destigmatizing cannabis. And help in the way of empowering these women to see the potential to make money by being a part of that community. Our Slack channel is full of women supporting women. We cheer each other on for job interviews, anniversary moments, and the #FML channel is just a place to share the real shit we deal with, the stuff we sometimes don’t let our closest people in on. What one thing do you want women to know about House of Wise? It’s not an MLM [multi-level marketing]. I’ve been a marketing exec for over 15 years. My goal is to build a company without giving money to Google and Facebook, and instead reward the women who help spread the word and educate their friends and families. Every woman makes $25 to $100 on every product sold. No upfront costs, no recruiting. What most affected how you curated your collection? I’ve tried a lot of CBD, and many were not reliable. Some left me groggy or too sleepy in the middle of the day. What cultivators do you work with to develop your line of gummies and tinctures? We work with a farm outside of Denver where the hemp is grown in-house.
How has your life changed this last year, and how have you adapted to the ever-growing situation we’re all facing? I went from living in New York City leading marketing at The Knot, seeing friends, and dating to now living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m hunkered down with my kids, waiting out COVID, helping them navigate homeschool, and launching this company in tandem. It’s a lot, but I feel energized by this mission every day so PARTNERSHIP: LAST PRISONER PROJECT it doesn’t feel like work.
“I’VE LEARNED TO GROW THROUGH EVERY CHALLENGE AND COME OUT MORE SELFAWARE AND APPRECIATIVE OF ALL I CAN HANDLE.” —Amanda Goetz Founder, House of Wise
How has having the kids at home and working from home been? Exhausting. You don’t get breaks. But I do feel like my kids are getting a better appreciation for all I do. They have started to help more and give me space when I need it. We are all learning how to communicate our needs and boundaries better now that we are together 24/7. What shows have you secretly binge-watched? I don’t have a ton of TV time, but I love The Bachelor and Mandalorian.
“I discovered Last Prisoner Project as I was studying cannabis legalization and legislation,” says Goetz. “I can’t build a company around making money from cannabis and not help support those in jail for doing the same. After partnering with the Last Prisoner Project, we have earmarked our donations for scholarships for the children of women imprisoned for cannabis.”
Tell us something readers would be surprised to know about you and House of Wise? About me? That’s hard because I’m an open book, but maybe the fact that I love to make people laugh. I am very silly the majority of the time. That’s probably the only side of me I tame down for work. About House of Wise? My investors are some of the most badass women around, and I’m so thankful for them supporting me along this journey. Oh, and our sex gummies work … partner optional! J A N UA RY 2021
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Psychedelic therapy could help ease the deep, constant wounds of racial trauma, but stigma and the movement’s unbearable whiteness keep people away. TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE
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THE ROAD
ORIGINAL PHOTO BY BEN SCOTT, UNSPLASH
TO RECLAIMING RECOVERY
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Fighting for freedom is Join the revolution at norml.org
n her vision, NiCole Buchanan is lying on a mat on a dirt floor, watching the woman sitting across from her morph into her ancestors through multiple generations, women she recognizes as legacies of her own history. They tell her they have survived brutal lifetimes as Black women so that she could be. They tell her she’s doing everything they’d hoped and dreamed. In Jamilah George’s vision, she’s riding a lapa (an African skirt) like a magic carpet, looking down at her ancestors working the plantation fields. A face that looks like hers turns toward her and reaches out a hand, and George pulls her up to the lapa. As generations of her ancestors pass by below, she continues to reach down and pull them up until her lapa is full of beautiful Black women from her lineage, all holding hands. “I’ve never felt so much warmth and support in my life, ever,” she says. Buchanan, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University and founder of Alliance Psychological Associates in East Lansing, Michigan, and George, a Detroit native who is studying the potential of psychedelic medicine to heal the psychological effects of racial trauma while pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Connecticut, shared their psychedelic experiences during an emotional segment of “Black Lives Matter & Psychedelic Integration: Pathways to Radical Healing Amidst Ongoing Oppression.” The webinar, sponsored by the Chacruna Institute (a nonprofit that provides education about psychedelic plant medicines) in
November, is one of many such events that have come online recently to explore how entheogens (plants that inspire non-ordinary states of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment) may be able to uproot and heal deep, embedded scars from generations of systemic racial oppression. Oyi Sun, an Atlanta-based martial arts master and coach who produced the 2020 Detroit Psychedelic Conference, explains it this way: “The white man has been selling trauma for generations, and here’s the terrible part—we’ve been programmed to receive it. And when you’re dealing with earthly trauma, entheogens are the best therapists in the world. There’s been a spiritual suppression going on for over 2,000 years, and now with the help of entheogens, there’s about to be a renewal of spiritual power.”
Sun stepped in to run the conference, with the theme “Entheogenics in Urban Environments: A Journey into the Mysteries,” after its founder, Baba Kilindi Iyi, died in April. Kilindi, one of the world’s foremost experts on psychedelic science and healing and the master of mushroom megadosing, was often the only Black presenter—if not the only Black person—at conferences and events on the psychedelic circuit, and he created the Detroit conference to bring the conversation home. “The faces that look like Kilindi—the brown faces—have not been represented in the entheogenic community,” Sun says. The conference took place at the Bushnell Congregational Church, a prewar Colonial Revival building on four acres in Rosedale Park, over a long weekend in August. Diverse speakers from around the world J A N UA RY 2021
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shared their expertise on everything from subatomic particle research and hyperdimensional realms to psychedelic justice, culminating in a memorial for Kilindi that Sun describes as “four hours of emotions, laughter, speakers, heart pouring, drumming—and more drumming and more drumming and more dancing and martial arts exhibitions.” It was a template for future events, Sun says, and they’re already brewing in Oakland, Denver, and Portland, Oregon (where voters recently legalized psilocybin for therapeutic use and decriminalized possession of all drugs).
a scab keeps getting ripped off a wound, the wound can never heal. “If someone is assaulted, for most of us, that happens once, then you have some time to heal,” says Undrea Wright, who co-founded The Sabina Project last year to provide Black-led psychedelic education, training, and harm reduction. “For people of color, we don’t have any time to heal because when we come out of ceremony, reality is still there.” Psychedelic therapy, one of the hottest healing modalities to emerge in decades, shows a lot of promise in treating PTSD, and many see its potential for treating racial trauma
Ottawa, has found psychedelics to be highly effective at treating racial trauma. She is the clinical director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Tolland, Connecticut, where she and her colleagues offer culturally informed ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a means of treating racial trauma. They find that many Black people refuse to even consider it, because they can be “fearful of a psychedelic medicine and the vulnerability that comes with it,” Williams explained during a Chacruna Institute forum on diversity in psychedelic medicine in February 2020. In 2018, Williams and three
The Pygmy tribes of Central Africa discovered the psychedelic properties of ibogaine, an indole alkaloid extracted from a rainforest shrub called Tabernanthe iboga, thousands of years ago and shared it with people who practice the Bwiti religion in West Africa. Still used as sacred medicine in Cameroon and Gabon, ibogaine opens doors to mystical experiences and communion with ancestors and spirits, often taking people on dreamlike journeys through their lives and offering transformative perspectives. Ibogaine is being studied as a treatment for drug addiction (opioids in particular), and clinics offer ibogaine-assisted detoxification in Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand. In the United States, ibogaine is a Schedule 1 narcotic.
PSYCHEDELICS AND RACIAL TRAUMA Racial trauma is a lot like PTSD— with symptoms like nightmares and hypervigilance—and it develops over a lifetime of injustices and abuses. But racial trauma is more insidious than PTSD because people of color continue to experience the same threats and humiliation that triggered them in the first place on an ongoing basis. When 40
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as well. “Right now, what’s taking up all the space for Indigenous and Black people is trauma, and the opposite of trauma is creative,” Sun says. “When entheogens come in and start clearing up that trauma, there’s going to be a void, and that void will be filled with creativity.” Monnica T. Williams, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Psychology at the University of
colleagues published their findings from a methodological search of psychedelic studies from 1993 to 2017. In those studies, 82.3 percent of the participants were non-Hispanic white, 4.6 percent were Indigenous, 2.5 percent were African American, 2.1 percent were Latino, and 1.8 percent were Asian. Selection bias is a factor in this, certainly, but just as importantly,
many people of color have little trust for medical trials (one word: Tuskegee) and illicit substances (two words: Drug War). They’ve been exploited and abused within the medical system and targeted in an immoral war that has decimated communities. Many don’t have the expendable time and money it takes to participate in clinical trials. George was one of few Black participants in clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD that were sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and it was anything but a healing experience for her. (MDMA is an acronym for the synthetic drug 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, more commonly known as Ecstasy and Molly.) After her session with two white therapists, she was sent home with a white night attendant, but she continued to feel alone and terrified. “I remember feeling so lost, so out of touch with my body, and psychologically, I didn’t have control of my thoughts,” she said during the webinar. “I was scared to call anyone. How do I tell any of my Black friends I just did an MDMA study?”
“THESE MEDICINES ARE PART OF OUR CULTURAL BIRTHRIGHT, AND I BELIEVE WE LOSE MORE WHEN WE STEP BACK AND CHOOSE NOT TO ENGAGE.” —Monnica T. Williams, PhD, University of Ottowa’s School of Psychology
RECLAIMING PSYCHEDELIC HEALING Beyond the clinic, underground psychedelic experiences like ayahuasca circles have become a thing in communities across North America—and every one of those circles is overwhelmingly white, says Wright. The few people of color who do participate, he says, find it uncomfortable because white people often (wittingly or unwittingly) gaslight them. “If I’m in a space that’s supposed to be safe and available to my story, and people are telling me my story is not real J A N UA RY 2021
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or valuable, that I just need to move past it, now I have an additional layer of trauma,” he says. “This is the story we kept hearing over and over. People of color had the wherewithal and learned about the medicines, finally found the circle—which is cost-prohibitive for most of us— then they had to do this dance in the circle. It can be retraumatizing.” Wright and Charlotte James co-founded The Sabina Project because they recognized “how healing it would be to be able to share our experiences and extend access to these medicines with our own communities, especially during these incredibly challenging and isolating times,” James says. People have been flocking to their workshops, trainings, and virtual ceremonies throughout the lockdown, seeking both community and information as they confront the demons of isolation.
“WE JUST WANT TO GUARANTEE THERE IS SOME SAFE, JUDGMENTFREE SPACE TO PROCESS JOURNEYS.” —Undrea Wright, Co-founder of The Sabina Project
The Sabina Project’s ceremonies are open to everyone, but integration circles are only for people of color. “We just want to guarantee there is some safe, judgment-free space, free of the white gaze, to process journeys,” she says. Fearing a judicial system that’s stacked against them, Wright and James facilitate only ceremonies with substances that are legal in the United States. Citing an ACLU study in Maryland that found African American men 900 percent more likely to be arrested for simple possession than white men, Wright says, “The consequences for us to do anything illegal are severe.” Those consequences are why many Black parents warn their children away from all drugs, psychedelics included. Buchanan said during the webinar that when she was growing up, everyone knew the story of her father’s best friend Lonnie, who tried acid after he returned from Vietnam and went crazy. “Every Black community has one of these stories,” she says. “What’s crazy,” Wright says, “is that most of these [sacred earth medicine] practices come from people of color. They convinced us to denounce these very powerful tools and replace them with pharmaceutical drugs that are killing us.” “These medicines are part of our cultural birthright,” Williams said in her lecture last February. “And I believe we lose more when we step back and choose not to engage. It is true that it has not always been safe for us, but I hope we can come together as a people, create our own safe spaces, and become empowered to reclaim psychedelic healing for ourselves, our loved ones, and our community.”
DOING THE MOST GOOD Support The Sabina Project by checking out its new merch collection. They’ll pay that support forward by giving 5 percent of all proceeds to the Mutual Ceremony Fund, which provides monetary assistance for BIPOC looking to explore psychedelic healing work through The Sabina Project’s workshops.
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLUNT SKINCARE 44
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GET YOURS
Blunt Skincare Available on bluntskincare.com, Stash Box Beauty, and Naturally Radical
Getting Blunt Los Angeles is home to a new CBD skin-care start-up. TEXT DAWN GARCIA
A market analysis published on grandviewresearch.com revealed that the global skin-care products market size was valued at 134.8 billion in 2018 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4 percent from 2019 to 2025. The ever-expanding global cosmetics industry is steadily growing, and the demand for skin-care products continues to soar. In the skin-care segment, the research showed, face creams held the largest share of the market in 2018 and are forecasted to continue to dominate. The research predicted that high demand for skin-brightening face creams, which reduce acne scars, freckles, age spots, and discoloration, will boost market growth in the coming years. As companies adapt, get better, use more natural ingredients, and expand their reach into the CBD skincare markets, it seems now is one of the best
times to be at the forefront of a pivotal market. In the sea of products and brands trying to push the skin-care game forward, Los Angeles– based Blunt Skincare is making waves. Stas Chirkov, founder and CEO, has worked in the beauty industry over the last 15 years. He began exploring the benefits of natural ingredients. “I specialized in developing beauty products from formula creation to packaging design,” Chirkov says. “I was researching different ingredients and formulation technologies within the skin-care category and truly love bringing creative concepts to life. The beauty industry is very competitive, so I love creating new innovative products.” Among that innova—Stas Chirkov tion was introducing Founder of Blunt Skincare CBD into products. According to a study in the Journal of Dermatologic Science published in 2007 on the effects of CBD on psoriasis, cannabinoids from cannabis are anti-inflammatory and
“I wanted to create a brand that celebrates ingredients and the cannabis plant…. Our branding is our inclusive community: colorful, happy, and free of stigma.”
can inhibit the growth of tumor-forming cells. Cannabinoid receptors are present in human skin and can inhibit growth of keratinocytes (skin cells that produces keratin and that play a role in psoriasis). The findings concluded that cannabinoids may have a therapeutic value in the treatment of psoriasis. An article published this past November in Business Wire showed that the North American CBD skin-care market is anticipated to rise with a CAGR of 21.30 percent from 2019 to 2028. Clearly the last 15 years has drastically changed what we know about CBD. “It is likely that there are a lot more benefits obtained by using serums or oils containing cannabidiol,” according to the firm researchandmarket.com, which is seeing a high demand for CBD products. “Owing to the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties of CBD, it is used in topical treatments for relieving dryness and inflammation. Also, it is being investigated whether CBD can be used by those with sensitive skin.” “I decided to take a transparent approach when creating Blunt Skincare products,” Chirkov says. The J A N UA RY 2021
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c
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CONNECT WITH YOURSELF AND OTHERS IN CITIES AROUND THE GLOBE
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THE SCENE
company offers three different-hemp derived ingredients that have completely unique skin benefits: hemp seed oil, Isolated CBD and full-spectrum hemp extract (rich in CBD but also contains the full plant profile of phytocannabinoids). Determined to explore the benefits and science of utilizing CBD in skin care, Chirkov started to experiment. “We use hemp seed oil to address skin barrier issues to help with hydration of the skin. CBD is used in Blunt skin-care formulas to balance acne-prone
skin and works by reducing the production of sebum and inflammation. And we use the full-spectrum extract for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, which can be useful in treating dryness and free radical damage. “To maximize the effect of each formula, I included potent botanical extracts I have researched during my career. To name a few, we use ingredients such as prickly pear, sacha inchi, and sea buckthorn, all known to be very beneficial for all skin types.” Derived from the cactus,
prickly pear is a wondrous age-defying ingredient known to improve the texture and tone of your complexion. It’s used in a range of products in the market due to its soothing properties, making it ideal for acne-prone, dry, sensitive, or inflamed skin. Sashi inchi (a perennial plant in the family Euphorbiaceae that has small trichomes on its leaves) is utilized for its healing properties against free radicals and fine lines and wrinkles. It boosts collagen production and reduces the appearance of enlarged pores. Sea buckthorn
(Hippophae rhamnoides) is used for skin conditions and to reduce swelling (inflammation). “All of our products are sustainably made in Los Angeles and triple tested for integrity of cannabinoids,” Chirkov says. “We partnered with Encore Labs in Pasadena to make sure each bottle of Blunt Skincare contains the right amount of CBD. We also work with Pacobond to create our beautiful box packaging.” The packaging is simple, yet youthful, lively, and geared toward a millennial audience in terms of its style and design. Its target demographic is both women and men passionate about plant-based skin care and interested in cannabis-based products. “I wanted to create a brand that celebrates ingredients and the cannabis plant. Our packaging was inspired by vibrant colors of botanicals (we do not use any dyes or fragrances) and was made to be recyclable and sustainable. Our branding is our inclusive community: colorful, happy, and free of stigma.” Like for many start-ups, 2020 proved challenging for Blunt Skincare. “The biggest challenge for us was adjusting to workfrom-home and moving all communications to virtual meetings. As the
PRODUCT LINE Seed Hydrating Face Oil: Assists in the repair of the skin barrier for all skin types Isolate Pure CBD Balancing Face Oil: Treatment for blemish-prone or irritated skin Moonrock Full Spectrum Renewal Face Oil: Revitalizes with vitamins and antioxidants to protect it from free radicals and inflammation
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THE SCENE
“This year has been tough on many of us, but I’m thrilled to bring the resilience we’ve built this year into the year ahead.” —Stas Chirkov, founder and CEO, Blunt Skincare
founder of a start-up, I find it very important to have a one-on-one connection with our customers. We quickly adapted to communicate with our customers through social media or emails.” Adaptability is the name of the
pandemic game, and it’s how so many businesses will survive. “I have to say this year has been tough on many of us, but I’m thrilled to bring the resilience we’ve built this year into the year ahead. Through all of the chal-
lenges, we were able to bring in our new trial size program exclusively on bluntskincare.com, where our customers get to try cannabis skin care for the first time. The program will continue in 2021, and we hope to apply this ap-
proach to all of our future products.” When asked about the brand’s ultimate message, Chirkov says, “We are your cannabis skin-care specialist. We specialize in different types of cannabis extracts and help you choose the right products that work with your skin. We’re transparent about ingredients, dosage, and the sustainability of our products.” He adds that he is inspired by people. “When I moved to the United States to pursue an American dream, I was inspired by immigrants who moved miles away from home to find happiness. Now I get inspired by entrepreneurs who make a positive impact on the industries they are in.” The ongoing conversation on the value and benefits of CBD and its derivatives like CBG in skin care can seem exhausting, but it’s a young market. That said, science is on the side of CBD because of its vastness for proven healing properties. So, is CBD in skin care really worth all the hype? That’s still up for debate, but you’ll be hard pressed to find someone damning the benefits of CBD on our most critical (and largest) organ, our skin. It’s worth trying for yourself. J A N UA RY 2021
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THE SCENE CALENDAR
Cultural Calendar
The transition to a brand-new year presents an opportunity for championing innovation. TEXT ELI DUPIN + DAWN GARCIA
We have been locked indoors for longer than any of us ever thought would be cool, but this new year and month stokes the flame of innovation, do-overs, and new ways of experiencing life. Here’s the month’s rundown of virtual events, art, music, and so much more. Just remember, support local businesses as often as possible because it matters. 50
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The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro
Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience
Now–Jan. 20, Virtual event Free centertheatregroup.org
Now–Feb. 28 777 Alameda St., Los Angeles Tickets $59–$234 feverup.com
The Center Theatre Group will present Chicanx adaptations of classic Greek plays, Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, and Mojada, in streamed readings The Upside Down filmed at the Kirk and Starcourt Mall Douglas Theatre. circa 1985 is coming to life thanks
PHOTOS (FROM TOP) BY COUPLEINTHEKITCHEN.COM / COURTESY OF FEVERUP.COM
TOP: RESTAURANTE WEEK 2021 BELOW: STRANGER THINGS: THE DRIVE-INTO EXPERIENCE
THE SCENE CALENDAR
LEFT: RYE WHISKEY TASTING WITH CATOCTIN CREEK DISTILLING RIGHT: CELEBRATING SPIKE LEE
to Netflix and the Duffer Brothers, who are bringing a fully immersive, multilevel experience over the next two months to Angelenos. Prices are per car and range from general admission to VIP.
The meditation has three focuses: clarity, consciousness, and connection through cannabis guided practice.
two conversations— artist Lava Thomas with professor Leigh Raiford, and artist Whitfield Lovell with curator LeRomm P. Brooks. The conversations will explore the role of Black artistic practice within the structure of our current social and political climate.
Cannabis, CBD, and Hemp PitchForce Jan. 7, 3 p.m. Virtual Event pitch-force.com
WHISKEY PHOTO BY MICHELLE HA
420-Friendly Meditation Sesh- In this free event Ins presented by Max Jan. 5 & 19, 5 p.m. Virtual event Free (suggested donation $10–$20) Tickets on Eventbrite
Enjoy community virtually with cannabis wellness coach Victor Ung from Human Up.
Shapiro, PitchForce founder and People Connect CEO, companies deliver elevator pitches to a panel of VCs, angel investors, and successful start-up founders.
Cannabis Communion Cave Ceremony key, buy the tasting pack ($50) ahead of Jan. 14, 6 p.m. time. The event is Virtual event held in partnership Free with The Center for one.bidpal.net/ Culinary Culture, americancinematheque/ which is home to the Join this livestream Cocktail Collection presentation of the and the Los Ange34th American Cin- les Food & Drink ematique Awards Museum (formerly honoring filmmak- American Cocker Spike Lee. tail Academy Los Angeles). The center Rye Whiskey has relaunched and Tasting with reinvigorated its proCatoctin Creek gramming to offer Distilling virtual tastings with Jan. 14, 5 p.m. incredible spirits.
Celebrating Spike Lee
Virtual event Free thecraftycask.com
If you want to sip along with Becky and Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek Distilling in this Meet the Maker virtual tasting event of Virginia Rye Whis-
The Black Index: Artists in Conversation Jan. 15, 11 a.m. Virtual event Free getty.edu
The Getty Research Institute presents a special event with
Jan. 15, 5:30 p.m. Virtual meditation Suggested donation, $10–$30 per person Tickets on Eventbrite
Restaurante Week 2021 Jan. 15–30 (LA) Prices vary restauranteusa.com
Latin restaurants in Los Angeles will be offering specially discounted prix-fixe menus for takeout or delivery. Restaurante Week will continue in Orange County (Feb. 1–15) and San Diego (Feb. 16–28).
Entering Cannabis Summit Jan. 27, 9 a.m. Virtual event Free enteringcannabis.com
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P R O M OT I O N A L F E AT U R E F L O U R I S H S O F T WA R E
was reinforced after the MJ Freeway debacle in 2017, when its seed-tosale software was repeatedly hacked, causing a panic throughout the industry. At the time, MJ Freeway was one of the main providers of that service. “We have built our software from the ground up, paying close attention to best practices for securing our platform,” Griffin says. In 2017, he and a core group of four others at Atlanta-based Flourish decided to dive in, and within a few months, their software solution was operational with clients. Flourish has grown from that original staff of four to 30 people. Inventory management using simple spreadsheets, which is how many early-stage cannabis businesses operate, makes it difficult for companies to instantly provide investors with information they need to track factors that can help scale operations. “Spreadsheets are not built to be the system of record,” Griffin says. “That is why you need a comprehensive software platform with better structured data for things like inventory control and production costs. We create the path for that.” It’s been a really exciting jour- and managing inventory. “But we Flourish has been working on ney,” says Colton Griffin, CEO have really captured some rich sets of retail-driven issues such as demand of Flourish Software and a data where we can provide actionable planning and forecasting—for serial entrepreneur developing insights to help understand operations,” instance, helping dispensaries inform cannabis supply chain and business he says. “We have datasets to use cultivators about what strain they management enterprise software for a from cultivation all the way through should plant based on what their fast-moving, still-maturing industry. retail built into our platform, with customers want. “You have to have What’s been missing amid the excite- other capabilities being codified now a good dataset to work off of for that ment is better data analytics, including to gather more insight into what the sort of forecasting,” Griffin says. “And better access to and better use of the industry needs. it could be 180 days from planting a data that most cannabis businesses “Flourish was really born from inter- plant to having it on the shelf, and it have in some form. That’s where actions with operators in the industry,” has to be orchestrated correctly.” Flourish comes in. “Our background is Griffin says. “I realized that software really heavy into business intelligence and analytics was one of the pain and big data focused on supply chain points for these operators, and the idea operations,” Griffin says. of providing better analytics for them Flourish Software Flourish started out by covering the really just clicked.” Data Analysis Software Platform fundamentals of running the business His decision to enter the market flourishsoftware.com
Taking a Deep Dive with Data Analytics
As the cannabis industry matures, operators are finding that it’s time to ditch those simple spreadsheets for more targeted datasets.
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Chef Gruel and his wife, Lauren
Making a Stand Chef Andrew Gruel pushes back against a new ban on outdoor dining at Southern California’s restaurants.
California has endured some serious hardships throughout this past year, especially in the restaurant and hospitality industries. Among affected businesses is Orange County’s Slapfish, a restaurant serving sustainably sourced seafood, and Big Parm, a specialty pizza eatery spearheaded by Chef Andrew Gruel. Gruel has become impassioned— and rightfully so—over LA county’s mandated 54
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ban on outdoor dining until COVID-19 numbers level out. Gruel refused to shut down outdoor dining at all his Southern California locations, posting on Twitter that there is no significant scientific evidence to support the theory that outdoor dining leads to increased COVID cases, and he’s right. Gruel called out Governor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and LA
County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for virtue signaling. Their recent acts of hypocrisy—dining indoors at restaurants with guests not wearing masks and eating outdoors, in direct contrast to their statewide mandates—have left a bad taste in many restaurant owners’ mouths. “We’ve always been ahead of all protocols,” Gruel says. “We didn’t reopen indoor dining because we were awaiting the science,
mask mandates, plexiglass, et cetera. The outdoor piece is still light on data (if any at all). We need data-driven policy.” How can we help? Until mandates on outdoor dining bans are lifted entirely, we can help save a dwindling economy by shopping at local farms, ordering takeout or delivery from local independently owned restaurants once a week, and supporting local businesses.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHEF ANDREW GRUEL
TEXT ELI DUPIN
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